A New Path
by tokiwashojo
Summary: This fic explores the possibilities during the 5th episode. My own opinion about what would happen if Kira was captured by Asuran. warning, this is a yaoi fic. DOnt read if you're homophobic


A NEW PATH  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
Disclaimers: Gundam Seed, its characters, mechas and all other technical stuff are not mine. But the plot of this fic IS mine ^^  
  
Author's notes : r&rs and c&cs are all very welcome.  
If you want to flame me, just flame the plot or the story so that I will be able to improve it. Flaming me on a personal level will just be ignored.  
  
* oh and this is a repost, I edited some mistakes I made earlier. * and to NATAKU, if you think Kira and Asuran are so gay, then you can just burn in hell for all I care. And if you don't like it that way, why did you even bother clicking on my fanfic? I won't hunt you down, there's no need for that, bastards all burn in hell anyway. O and if you think I'm angry, I'm not, sorry to disappoint you. You, and those like you are all ignored. I pity your sick existence, really =)  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
"Asuran! What are you doing?!"  
  
Asuran Zala, tired from the intense battle, turned to respond to his comrade, Issac Jule. "I'm capturing this unit," he replied, flatly and calmly.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"We were ordered to destroy it! Quit doing things on your own accord!" Deaka protested.  
  
"It's better to capture it if we can. Retreat!"  
  
"Asuran!!" Issac yelled in frustration and rage.  
  
Throughout the entire conversation, Kira simply looked around his cockpit, frightened and confused.  
  
The four gundams, along with the Striker sliced their way through space as they made their way back to their ship.  
  
Though he was in a state of fright, Kira found his voice to ask, "Asuran, what are you trying to do?"  
  
"I'm taking you to the Gamou," was the calm reply.  
  
This shook him from his frightened state to that of panic. "Stop joking! I'm not going to a ZAFT ship!"  
  
"You're a Coordinator! One of us!"  
  
"No! I'm not one of ZAFT!" he insisted stubbornly.  
  
"Stop your nonsense, Kira! You will come. Otherwise...I'll have to shoot you." Asuran yelled back as his hand trembled on his controls.  
  
"Asuran..." Kira whispered softly, taken aback by the intensity of his childhood friend's words.  
  
"My mother died in the Bloody Valentine. I..."  
  
But he was unable to continue his statement as he was warned about the fact that Lt. Mau Ra Fraga's Zero was approaching quickly. The lieutenant wasted no time and immediately opened fire on the Aegis. The first few shots missed due to Aegis' maneuverability and Asuran's skills as a pilot. But, Lt. Fraga's skills were not to be ignored. And a few shots later, he was able to damage the Aegis.  
  
"Lt. Fraga!"  
  
"Mobile armor!?" Deaka exclaimed, alarmed.  
  
"Asuran!" Nichol yelled.  
  
Aegis is then rocked by further shots. "Damn it!" The gundam transformed back into a mobile suit, losing the Strike.  
  
Kira gasped, realizing that he was free. Mau orders then sounded over the radio, "Retreat! The Archangel will send out the Launcher!" Mau is then chased by the Aegis. "There's still a big one behind us! Gear up! Hurry!"  
  
Kira looked at his monitor and saw Asuran firing at the Zero. He remembered several quick images from that day when ZAFT launched its surprise attack on Heliopolis, when all was still at peace within the neutral colony.  
  
He opened his eyes and replied over the communicator, "Understood." Strike then flew back toward the ship.  
  
Occupied by Mau, Asuran can do little more than shout, "Kira!"  
  
Deaka and Issac saw the streak of light through space as Strike made its way back to the archangel. "That guy..." Issac muttered under his breath.  
  
Both gave chase, firing after him. The Archangel began launching a volley of missiles, trying to protect the Strike.  
  
"Don't let them get near Strike!" Natarle yelled.  
  
"Sergeant Maddock, how are the preparations?" Murrue asked over the phone.  
  
"Ready whenever you are!" He replied. "But this is reckless! What if it gets shot down on the way?"  
  
"I know it's reckless but we have no other choice!" Murrue looked back over her shoulder at Natarle. "Ensign Badgiruele, I'll leave the timing to you."  
  
"Roger! Pass control of the ship here! Laser designator, online. Match the velocity of the Strike. Adjusting the catapult's launch movement. Hand it over to the Launcher-Striker's computer."  
  
The catapult opened up outside the ship just as Strike flew past it, and came out in front of the ship, prepared to dock with the equipment.  
  
Blitz flew over to help Aegis. "Asuran!" Nichol yelled. Blitz fired at the Zero, which gathered up its weapon pods and began to make an escape.  
  
Buster stopped in mid space and drew out its huge gun. It fired a blast towards Strike. But Duel kept on going after it. "Issac!" Deaka yelled over his communicator.  
  
"I won't let you!" Issac muttered.  
  
"Duel approaching!" went the report on the bridge. The Archangel monitor showed a red dot -- Duel -- rapidly approaching a blue dot -- Strike. Except for the alarms, there was silence on the bridge of the ship.  
  
Strike lined with the front of the ship. A beep then indicated that all of the preparations were complete. "Strike has entered the launching path!" Tonomura reported.  
  
"Catapult, launch!" Natarle ordered. The Launcher equipment flew down the tunnel and out into space.  
  
"Here it comes!" Kira noted. He jettisoned the Aile equipment and lined up with the Launcher equipment.  
  
At that moment, Duel stopped its chase and pulled out its beam rifle with am attached grenade launcher. Issac activated the targeting computer and locked on to his target.  
  
"He's got a lock on me!?" Kira exclaimed, alarmed. The Strike began docking with the Launcher equipment. Duel launched a missile at Strike. The crew of the Archangel can do nothing but watch as the Strike docked with its Launcher equipment at the same moment the missile was fired. A bright explosion bathed the area in light; the crew feared the worst. While Asuran and Mau watched and waited.  
  
And as the explosion took place, Duel dove into the ball of light. And when the bright light disappeared, everyone realized, to their horror and surprise, that Duel was not aiming at Strike at all. It was aiming for the Launcher equipment. Evidence of this was that the Duel now had the powerless but still intact Strike in its hands.  
  
As the shock of the turn of events faded off, Nichol got his senses back and fired at the Zero. The lieutenant, who for a second, had let his guard down, was hit and had to make an emergency landing back at the Archangel.  
  
When he realized that his comrade had no intention of firing at Kira, relief flooded through Asuran. "Issac?"  
  
"If you want to capture something, you must be careful when you're handling it," came Issac's amused voice. "Never let your guard down. They might escape when you're not paying attention."  
  
"I know Issac."  
  
"Let's go back guys," said Deaka. "I'm sure the commander will be very pleased."  
  
* * * * * *  
  
Kira opened his eyes slowly as the pain at the back of his head vanished. The events of his capture kept on replaying itself in his mind during the whole time he was unconscious. He clutched his head and realized that there were bandages wrapped around his head. This was a bit too much "care" for such a minor head injury, considering he was a Coordinator.  
  
"Where am I?" he asked softly.  
  
He was on a bed, but his mind quickly registered that he was nowhere in the Archangel. Whoever had captured him had made quick work of dressing his wounds. He was now wearing clothes that closely resembled those of hospital patients, while his old clothes were neatly folded on the edge of the bed.  
  
And before his mind can be set off to a full panic, he heard voices coming from the room adjacent the one he was staying in. He stood up from the bed, despite the intense pain he felt in his midsection, and made his way to the door. He pressed his ear against it to hear the conversation taking place outside, better.  
  
"Care to fill us in on the present situation, Asuran?"  
  
Asuran?! So he really was captured. Kira felt his heart's hope disappear as he finally succumbed to the pain and sank down to sit on the floor.  
  
"Issac, I ..."  
  
"Oh stop pestering Asuran already, Issac. He'll tell us when he is ready. Right, Asuran?"  
  
"Nichol..."  
  
"It's okay Asuran, there's no need to tell us if you're not yet ready."  
  
"Deaka..."  
  
"Asuran, will you please stop saying our names after we say something to you? It's becoming a bit disturbing," the first voice spoke again.  
  
"Asuran, I'll go check on that pilot again, and give him more medicine, if necessary. Hope he's already awake," said the second voice. Because of the pain, Kira barely realized the pilot the speaker had meant, was him.  
  
And when his pain-fogged mind finally registered this, the doors to his room opened up and in came a green-haired boy, clad in a ZAFT uniform.  
  
"Oh you're already awake?!" the boy exclaimed. He went to one of the cabinets at the far end of the room and pulled out a small syringe. When Kira saw this, he quickly moved away from the newcomer.  
  
The green-haired boy realized this and gently shook his head. "This is a painkiller," he stated plainly. "You shouldn't have gotten up yet. I can clearly see that you are in pain, let me help you."  
  
Kira, realizing that he was of no match to a young and healthy Coordinator, finally succumbed. The green-haired youth sighed with relief and approached him quickly. He pulled up Kira's loose sleeves and injected the painkiller. After pulling the needle out, he looked up at Kira with a huge smile. "Feeling any better?"  
  
Kira nodded. The medicine really was working its way up his body as the pain in his midsection disappeared almost instantly. "Th...Thank you." He meant it, but it was a bit awkward to thank someone whom he considered to be an enemy of his.  
  
"There's no need to thank me," he said, as he helped Kira up to his feet and guided him back to the bed. "The name's Nichol Amarfi, by the way," said the ZAFT pilot as he settled Kira back on the bed. "And you are?"  
  
"I'm Kira, Kira Yamato," he said.  
  
"Nice to meet you then, Kira," said Nichol. "You wait here okay? I'll go call the others."  
  
And before Kira could say anything else, Nichol had already left the room. Kira sighed and stared at the ceiling above him. But before his mind could wander off to the friends he had left on board the Archangel, the door opened up and in rushed four rather excited pilots.  
  
Asuran arrived first, but when he saw Kira, his voice died down in his throat and he could only manage to whisper his name. "Kira...Yamato..."  
  
The pilot standing on the opposite side of the bed from Asuran and right beside Nichol sighed loudly and addressed Kira. "Dear guest, please excuse Mr. Asuran Zala here," indicating Asuran. "Ever since we entered the receiving room just adjacent to this one, his ability to speak anything coherent, flew out of the window. The only things he can say now are people's names." He feigned an expression which expressed sadness towards Asuran's present "condition", as he had put it, while the other pilots laughed good-naturedly.  
  
Kira, too, found himself giggling at what the silver-haired pilot had said. Then he remembered how the said pilot had referred to him. He called him "our dear guest", and was far from treating him as their prisoner.  
  
When the laughter finally died down, the silver-haired pilot, who had spoken earlier, offered his hand for Kira to shake. "Kidding aside, the name's Issac Jule."  
  
Kira found himself accepting the offered hand and shaking it before he even thought about it. It was almost as if shaking hands with these people was second nature to him. "I'm Kira, Kira Yamato."  
  
"Kira then," said Issac, as he withdrew. "You're one hell of a pilot," he commended. "I've never seen anyone pilot a mobile suit with such mobility and maneuver it with as much ease as you. Where did you receive your training?"  
  
Kira shook his head and replied, "I'm a civilian. I mean I was, before I started piloting the Strike." Memories about his friends onboard the Archangel and of Heliopolis began resurfacing in his mind, but he shook these away before tears could fog his vision.  
  
"What?!" Issac exclaimed. "You didn't receive any sort of training at all?"  
  
Kira shook his head.  
  
Issac regained his composure and flashed Kira a thumbs-up sign. "You're a great pilot, even for a Coordinator. I look forward to sparring with you in a mobile suit."  
  
"This is the first time I've ever heard you praise someone else, Issac," the blond pilot standing beside Asuran commented. He turned to Kira and extended his hand out as well. "I'm Deaka Elthman, nice to meet you Kira."  
  
"Nice to meet you too," Kira said as he shook hands with the blond.  
  
When the blond withdrew, he nudged Asuran. "Go on, talk to him," Deaka whispered.  
  
Asuran turned to look at Kira and both boys, unable to keep their emotions to themselves anymore, felt unconstrained tears flood their eyes.  
  
"Kira, it's nice to see you again," said Asuran, softly and calmly. But the tears flowing out of his eyes definitely betrayed his well-kept emotions.  
  
"Asuran...." Kira whispered, his tears also flowing out of his eyes and fogging his vision. "It's been so long..."  
  
Just as the two boys were about to exchange words they've longed to share with the other, a sudden "Tori! Tori!" startled everyone in the room. Then everyone's attention diverted to Kira's folded clothes just as it started to wriggle and move on its own.  
  
Just then, a small mechanical bird flew out of the clothes pile, circled above the boys once and then landed on Asuran's outstretched hand. He inspected it for a while, not minding his comrades' curious gazes. Then, all of a sudden, he exclaimed, "Tori?!" He looked at Kira with an amazed look, one which reminded Kira so much of the Asuran back when they were still in Junior High. "You still have Tori?"  
  
Kira nodded. "He's become my constant companion ever since you left the moon."  
  
Issac, Nichol and Deaka leaned in closer to inspect the mechanical bird and Issac asked out loud, "Did you also assemble this mechanical bird, Kira?"  
  
Kira shook his head and replied, "That was Asuran's farewell gift to me when he left for PLANT right after our Junior High years."  
  
"Farewell gift?" Issac pressed on.  
  
Nichol nudged him on the ribs and whispered, "Don't keep on inquiring about those things Issac."  
  
Asuran smiled at the other ZAFT pilots and shook his head. "It's okay Nichol. I think you guys have a right to know anyways." He sat down on the bed beside Kira and handed Tori back to the brunette. "Kira and I used to be the best of friends when we were still kids."  
  
The other pilots turned their full attention towards him and Asuran continued. "We used to live on the moon. We would always be together wherever we would go and we would always help each other out, whether it was in mischief or something else. But, when we were just about to graduate from Junior High, my father suddenly informed me that we were leaving for PLANT."  
  
"So you guys got separated?" Deaka inquired.  
  
Both Asuran and Kira nodded.  
  
"When Asuran left, he gave me this Tori," continued Kira. "I promised him that I would be following him to PLANT after a few years. But that was a promise I was unable to keep. As I planned to leave for PLANT, the war between the Coordinators and the Naturals began. So I cancelled my plan and decided to stay in Heliopolis instead."  
  
"I see," said Nichol. "So that was how you ended up in Heliopolis."  
  
Kira nodded.  
  
"We never heard from each other again, after that parting," added Asuran.  
  
"So you guys were that close? No wonder you weren't capable of attacking him," said Issac. "If I was in your situation, I too, might ignore the orders given me." He gave a quick sigh of relief, "Boy, am I relieved that I made a last minute decision to change the target lock from the Striker to the Launcher equipment."  
  
"Thanks about that Issac."  
  
"Nah, there's no need to thank me. I kinda figured out that you knew the pilot or something. You never defied any single order given to us by Commander Krueze ever since our unit was formed. So your defying his orders to destroy the Strike gave me a hint that the pilot was someone you knew. I just didn't think you were really this close."  
  
Kira was about to say something else but was stopped when an announcement was made in the ship. "Com. Krueze is reminding all of the pilots to take some well-deserved rest, and to stop pestering Kira Yamato for the whole duration of the travel. And, we will be arriving in PLANT tomorrow at 0600 hours. That is all."  
  
"Well then, I guess we should be on our way to our rooms then," said Nichol as he and the other pilots made their way out of the room.  
  
And just as the doors were about to shut tight, Kira and Asuran heard the faint complaints of Deaka, "We're not kids anymore! Why is the commander always treating us in such a manner?"  
  
When the complaints were already too far away to be heard from opposite a closed door, Kira turned to Asuran and asked, "You're not going with them?"  
  
Asuran shook his head and replied, "Have you ever wondered whose room you're in?"  
  
"Medical room?"  
  
Again Asuran shook his head. "I think you're forgetting that this is a Coordinator vessel Kira. We don't get injured as easily as the Naturals and we don't need doctors here on our ship as we, as individuals, have all been trained to treat others and ourselves if ever the need came."  
  
"Then..."  
  
"You're in my room," Asuran informed him with a small smile. "And that's my bed you're on," he added. So saying, Asuran lied down on the bed beside his best friend after Kira moved a bit to the other direction to accommodate the other pilot.  
  
Asuran spread the blanket on them both and said, "Dim lights 90%" The lights in the room dimmed and Kira was barely able to see anything in the room that was a meter away from him. Tori jumped up and nestled on his head.  
  
"Tori's still like that huh?" Asuran asked in good-humor as he observed the mechanical bird's antics from beside his best friend.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Kira. "But I've gotten used to it already..." He was about to say something more, but was stopped when he felt Asuran's hand entwine itself with his. "Asuran?" he asked, unsure of the motive of his friend's action.  
  
"I've missed you so much," said Asuran softly. "Do you remember the old times?"  
  
Kira smiled and replied, "Yeah."  
  
"I know there's a lot of catching up to do but can we just stay like this for a while?" Asuran requested.  
  
Kira nodded, and soon, both boys fell into a deep slumber.  
  
tbc 


End file.
